Shalom Chaim,
Thanks for another great show last week and for answering my questions.
Are you familiar with the person and work of Eric Hoffer? He was known as the “longshoreman philosopher,” because he worked on the San Francisco waterfront (after years as a migratory worker in California). He gained national prominence with his first book, “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements,” published in 1951.
Hoffer was blind as a child, but his eyesight miraculously came back. He never attended any school and was completely self-taught. His life story is very interesting and inspiring. President Reagan was influenced by his writings and presented him with the 'Presidential Medal of Freedom'.
Many have pointed out that Hoffer’s analysis of “the true believer,” although written with the followers of Hitler and Stalin in mind, was also applicable to IslamoNazis. After The True Believer, Hoffer published eight more books. He died in May 1983. In addition to being a strong opponent to communism and socialism, he was a big supporter of Israel and an admirer of the Jews.
Below is short editorial he wrote to the LA TIMES on May 26, 1968. It is very interesting and prophetic.
If you don’t want to read this because of time restraints. Here is a short snippet from it. I’d like to know your thoughts about him and these words.
Thanks very much.
May Hashem strengthen you. Chazak v'emahtz!
Dreidlehead
From ISRAEL'S PECULIAR POSITION by Eric Hoffer, LA Times 5/26/68
“The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews ... Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace. Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world ... Other nations when they are defeated survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed ... No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on ... The Jews are alone in the world. If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources. Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us ... I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us."
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The complete piece:
ISRAEL'S PECULIAR POSITION
By Eric Hoffer (LA Times 5/26/68)
The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it, Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and Algeria a million Frenchman. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese - and no one says a word about refugees.
But in the case of Israel the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab.
Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis. Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace. Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.
Other nations when they are defeated survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed. Had Nasser triumphed last June he would have wiped Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews. No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on.
There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Negroes are executed in Rhodesia. But when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one remonstrated with him. The Swedes, who are ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we do in Vietnam, did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews. They sent Hitler choice iron ore, and ball bearings, and serviced his troop trains to Norway.
The Jews are alone in the world. If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources. Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us. And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general.
I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.